White asparagus with stuffed morels and a smoked beurre blanc

Today I'll be showing you how to prepare white asparagus. We'll be serving them with morels stuffed with a farce, a smoked beurre blanc, an egg yolk cream and sea aster.

The white asparagus

I always peel them on a container or a pan so they’re less likely to brake. Peel them nice and round like this. Now do this as well with the remaining asparagus. Keep the peels for later. Then cut the ends off the asparagus and also keep those for later. Now transfer them into a big pan and cover them with 1 liter of water. Add 10 grams of salt for seasoning. Then take a towel and rinse it very well to remove any soap. After that use the towel to cover the pan and bring it to a boil on a medium heat. The towel will insure a more even cooking process. Once it has boiled turn of the heat and let it cool down out of the fridge. Now take the towel form the asparagus and squeeze all the liquid out. Then also remove the asparagus from the liquid and portion them to the desired size and shape. After that pass the asparagus cooking liquid through a fine sieve and keep it for later.

The stuffed morels

200 grams	asparagus trimmings
150 grams	vegetable stock
150 grams	cream

200 grams	chicken filet
5 grams	salt
2	egg yolk
60 grams	butter
200 grams	cold asparagus cream
40 grams	sea aster

Transfer the asparagus trimmings in a pan and also add the vegetable stock and the cream. Cover this with foil and then bring it to a boil. Once it has boiled take let it marinade for at least 3 hours in your fridge. Then remove the foil and pass the liquid through a fine sieve. Meanwhile dissolve some salt in a bowl of lukewarm water and use this to wash a couple of morels. Repeat this process 5 times till all dirt and bugs are removed. Then take the asparagus cooking liquid and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling turn the heat down and blanch for morels for 60 to 90 seconds. Now transfer then on a tray and let them cool down in your fridge. While that’s cooling down transfer the chicken filet into a blender together with the salt and the egg yolks. Blend this till smooth. Then add the butter and mix it for 1 more minute. Now while blending add the cold asparagus cream that we just made and the directly stop mixing to prevent the farce from separating. Then press it through a fine sieve using a spatula or a dough scraper. After that transfer it into a bowl. Now take the sea aster and blanch it for 30 seconds in the asparagus liquid. Then transfer it onto a tray and let it cool down in your fridge. Once it has cooled down completely transfer it onto your worktop and chop it. Then add it to the farce and mix it well. Now put it in a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle and use the farce to fill your blanched morels. Make sure they’re filled all the way. Keep them in your fridge for later.

The smoked beurre blanc

250 grams	butter
3	big onions
700 grams	white wine
200 grams	madeira
3 sprigs	thyme
200 grams	white wine vinegar

100 grams	gastric
20 grams	cream
200 grams	cold smoked butter

First sprinkle some smoking wood on the bottom of an egg tray. I use apple wood. Then set fire to the wood and cover it directly with the top of the egg tray. Now place a bowl filled with ice cubes on there and then the butter. Cover this with another metal tray and wrap it well with some foil. Let it smoke for around 1 hour. Then remove the foil and keep your butter in the fridge for later. After that take the onions and clean them. Now chop them. Transfer the chop onion into a saucepan together with the white wine, the madeira, the thyme and the white wine vinegar. Reduce this for 80% and then pass it through a fine sieve using a ladle so you don’t waste anything. Now pour the gastric into a saucepan and also add the cream. Bring it to a boil. Then while stirring add the cold smoked butter. Do this in small cubes a time. Now give it a taste for season and season with salt.

The egg yolk cream

4	eggs
3 grams	salt
15 grams	olive oil

First cook the eggs at 63 degrees Celsius for 90 minutes. Once they’re cooked let them cool down in ice water. Then separate the yolks from the whites. Now transfer the egg yolks into a blender together with the salt and the olive oil. Blend this till smooth. Then transfer it into a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle and keep it in your fridge for later.

How to finish the dish

First bake your morels at 150 degrees Celsius for 12 minutes. Meanwhile also heat up your asparagus in some hot asparagus liquid and start laying a couple on a plate. Then cut a couple of the cooked morels in half and plate those as well. Add some more asparagus and pipe your egg yolk cream in between. The cream is at room temperature. Then decorate with some small sea aster leaves and wild garlic flowers. Now I also added some wild garlic oil that I made last week. And then finish the dish with the hot beurre blanc.